Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

New league has rough start

Tom Ficara figured a few mistakes might be made during the debut of his indoor National Alliance Soccer League. But he didn't think he'd have to find a new venue after the league's opening day at the Orleans Arena on Feb. 12.

That's the debacle Ficara encountered, but he has vowed to make amends. The indoor league will resume, likely under another name, at a UNLV site during the last weekend of the month.

"When it's wrong, it's wrong," said Ficara, 55. "That's why we have to fix this. I owe it to everybody. I owe it to myself, too, that's why I'm doing this."

Two Las Vegas teams, the Toros and Quicksilvers, will be the marquee squads. There likely will be five other teams, including the San Diego Fusion, Phoenix Inferno and Dallas Tornado.

Ficara has attended multiple meetings and participated in various conference calls to do it right this time around. Concessions at the games and insurance for players are two of his top concerns.

"(Soccer) is an interesting world," Ficara said. "It's intriguing. This is like learning another language; I know few of the words."

He is being tutored at rapid-fire pace by former UNLV coach Barry Barto and former Las Vegas Dustdevils assistant coach Ian Fulton, who coached the New York Arrows in their 9-4 defeat to the Toros on Feb. 12 and will likely run the Quicksilvers.

Ficara, president of Henderson-based Margate Entertainment Co. Inc., which also runs the TVS television network, said he hopes to televise the games to drive sales of his vast sports library.

A video of a North American Soccer League game between the New York Cosmos and Tampa Bay Rowdies, featuring Franz Beckenbauer, ran on a DVD player in Ficara's offices Wednesday afternoon.

He again vowed that the league will return in a credible form and will be an entertainment option for families and soccer fans for years.

"I am what I am," Ficara said. "And I am optimistic."

Kung Fu Cantona

That Eric Cantona commercial currently running on Fox Soccer Channel brought back memories - and probably a nightmare for one fan - of the flashy and fiery Frenchman who always played with his collar up.

In the commercial, Cantona interrupts a mock German sports television broadcast to rage against the machine, to yell about all of the fakes in the game and to preach about playing with spirit, honor and dignity.

He raised a card that read "joga bonito." That's "play beautiful" (or, roughly, the beautiful game) in Portuguese.

From Cantona? He has bloated a bit, and has grown a scruffy beard, since he retired from Manchester United in 1997. But the intensity still resides in his eyes.

As it did on Jan. 25, 1995, when he leaped over a Crystal Palace sideboard and karate chop-kicked a fan named Matthew Simmons, who had been blasting abuses at him at Selhurst Park in England.

Cantona was initially sentenced to jail, but he wound up serving 120 hours of community service instead. The Football Association suspended him for eight months. That was nothing new for Cantona, who received multiple suspensions when he played in Ligue 1 in France.

Deft moves

Pressed for a Starting XI for the United States come World Cup time, former national team defender and Hall of Famer Paul Caligiuri declined.

He said it wouldn't be fair because the team's Group E foes - the Czech Republic, Ghana and Italy - all play such different styles. U.S. coach Bruce Arena might change tactics, and his lineup, for each.

Instead, Caligiuri picked a player to watch - Eddie Johnson.

A 6-foot, 180-pound forward for the Kansas City Wizards, Johnson turns 22 in four weeks. He became the first player to net a hat trick as a substitute in World Cup qualifying when he bagged three goals in the final 25 minutes against Panama on Oct. 13, 2004.

"He's a jewel of Major League Soccer," Caligiuri said. "He could be a real breakthrough player if he gets going."

Reina reigns

Thank you, Liverpool goalie Jose Reina. Because you shut out Manchester City, my SheringHammers won their fourth in a row in the Fado's Irish Pub Premiership Knockout Cup.

This time, the other guys and the Hammers had five of the same players. Basically, it came down to the 'keepers. And they had Jens Lehmann of Arsenal, which was beaten 1-0 by Blackburn.

Hammers advance, 12-11, in our tightest game yet. We had won our first three by 7, 11 and 8 points, respectively.

Only seven more victories to the $1,000.

Corner kicks

Ronaldinho (first), Adriano (fifth) and Kaka (eighth) were in the top 10. England (four players in the top 30), Italy (three), and France and Holland (two apiece) followed Brazil.

Match of the Week

Los Angeles Galaxy at Deportivo Saprissa, Wednesday

Look for a heated contest in San Jose, Costa Rica, for the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The first leg resulted in a 0-0 draw nine days ago at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

As many as 10 of Saprissa's players will play for Costa Rica in the World Cup in Germany, and San Jose fans will not treat Las Vegas native Herculez Gomez and his Galaxy teammates kindly.

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